Large-animal vets in short supply

Disclosure of a shortage in large-animal veterinarians recently raised by Cornell University came as no surprise to local vets.

Mary Perham

Disclosure of a shortage in large animal veterinarians recently raised by Cornell University came as no surprise to local vets.

“It’s beyond critical,” said Dr. Guy Hammond, a Bath veterinarian with a large practice that ranges from draft horses to chihuahuas. “I’ve been advertising for help for a year, and I can’t get anybody.”

A Penn State graduate, Hammond is one of the few large animal vets in Steuben County and has practiced in the large, rural county for nine years.

The only other large animal vet in Steuben County is located in Coopers Plains, which often forces farmers to look regionally for help for their animals.

Sometimes, help can’t be found in time.

Cornell University alumnus, dairy farmer and county Legislator Robert Nichols, R-Tuscarora, recalled having to slaughter a birthing calf because there was no vet close enough to help with the complications.

“I had to,” he said. “It was killing the mother. They’d both be dead.”

Experts say the chief problem is attracting students.

Cornell is currently planning to admit more students, with an emphasis on recruiting veterinarians for “food supply” animals, such as cows, pigs and goats.

The proper care and breeding for that class of large animal is swiftly becoming a matter of national security, said Dr. Daryl Nydam, a veterinarian and Corning University faculty member.

“It’s one of the things the U.S. has going for it, food security,” Nydam said. “We aren’t beholden to other countries for our food.”

But Hammond blames Cornell for partially creating the problem, saying the university recruits heavily from urban areas and ignores students living in farming communities.

“Urban city kids aren’t going to go into large animals,” Hammond said. “(Cornell) is far too interested in GPAs and stuff like that.”

Nydam said the school’s standards call for high grades, but admitted it may have focused too much on urban area recruitment.

“That may have been true in the past. It isn’t true now,” Nydam said.

In contrast, Alfred Agricultural and Technical College has a healthy enrollment in its two-year, Veterinary Technician program, according to Dean of Agriculture Vicki Bolton.

The program attracts high school students born and raised on farms, and experience in the 4-H program who have agricultural backgrounds, Bolton said.

Ag Tech graduates are able to assist veterinarians, or go on to earn their veterinarian degrees.

One graduate, Stephanis Dodds, of Cohocton, is well on her way to becoming a full-fledged vet.

Now a student at Prince Edward Island College, Dodds grew up on a livestock farm, surrounded by animal husbandry. Her father is an artificial inseminator and Dodds also helped with animal chores on her grandparent’s farm during the summer.

“It’s in your blood,” she said. “You know the routine. Kids from a city atmosphere lose that. For me, this is just a natural thing.”

Dodd said she – and other women – don’t have the muscle for the heavier work of a large animal vet.

“You just have rely on somebody to be there to help you,” she said. “I’ve got the knowledge to be there – and you can do a lot of things with ropes in the right places.”

Yet only five of the 60 vet students in Dodd’s class want to work with large animals, she said.

Yet no large animal vet is in the business to become rich, and often struggle themselves to make ends meet.

“That’s why I have the clinic,” Hammond said. “The small animal side is what pays the mileage for me to go all over the place taking care of the large animals.”

Nydam said the federal government has approved a bill allowing large animal vets working in rural areas to reduce the cost of their education. The bill does not yet include any financing, he said.

But that will change, according to Democratic U.S. Rep.-elect Eric Massa, of Corning.

“I know about the problem,” Massa said. “I will definitely fight for funding for that and other rural programs for vets and education and medical training in rural areas. Access to vets is critical, it’s a huge part of our agricultural activity.”

Dodds doesn’t have a quick answer for the critical need for veterinarians in rural areas. Neither do others with years of experience, like Nydam or Hammond, or farmers like Nichols and beef cattle farmer Joe Hauryski, of Campbell.

A former U.S. Department of Agriculture employee and county legislator, Hauryski said the need is growing. And farmers keep calling vets to come when they can, and make do when they can’t.